Alteryx Conversion Matrix
PlaidCloud converts Alteryx workflows, apps, and macros into native Advanced workflows. The importer maps each Alteryx tool to a workflow step, macro construct, controlled variable, Document-backed file operation, or managed job executor — so a converted workflow runs cloud-native, not as an emulation.
Nearly every standard Alteryx tool converts fully. The support status below is per tool:
- Full — converts to a native PlaidCloud step, macro, variable, artifact, or managed executor and runs the tool’s function. Most tools are here.
- Partial — converts and runs for its common use, while one distinct capability mode of the tool is not yet reproduced. Rare.
- Not supported — no conversion; the capability is rebuilt natively instead.
External-system connectors (Salesforce, HTTP, Google Analytics, Cassandra, email, Hadoop, Spark, and the like) are connected, not converted — see Connecting to External Systems.
Tool Support
Section titled “Tool Support”| Alteryx Tool | Status | PlaidCloud Equivalent | Converts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Action | Full | Variable binding and conditional step configuration | Updates downstream step settings from converted app inputs. |
| Append Fields | Full | Append fields transform | Appends fields from one stream to another. |
| Auto Field | Full | Auto field sizing transform | Preserves inferred field sizing. |
| Barcode | Full | Barcode executor | Reads or writes barcodes in the configured symbology. |
| Browse | Full | Browse / passthrough | Preserved for inspection with no runtime cost. |
| Buffer | Full | Spatial Buffer | Grows each geometry by a fixed distance. |
| Calgary Cross Count | Full | Calgary database aggregate | Groups indexed fields and counts each custom field’s named values. |
| Calgary Cross Count Append | Full | Calgary Cross Count Append | Matches each input record against a value index, then counts how many database records it matched. |
| Calgary Input | Full | Calgary database input | Reads the database with its saved query applied as a filter. |
| Calgary Join | Full | Calgary Join | Matches each record against a value index on the database, keeping the records that matched. |
| Calgary Loader | Full | Calgary database writer | Writes the stand-in table every Calgary reader binds to. |
| Centroid | Full | Centroid executor op | Reduces each geometry to its centre point, appended as a Centroid column. |
| Check Box | Full | Controlled workflow variable | Converts app check-box choices to controlled input. |
| Classification | Full | ML: Train Model | Fuses the Assisted Modeling chain into one ML Train step with its algorithm, target, features, and hyperparameters. |
| Comment / Annotation / Link | Full | Canvas annotation | Preserved as workflow context. |
| Condition | Full | Step condition | Triggers warnings, errors, or branches from an expression. |
| Control Parameter | Full | Macro control parameter | Maps to PlaidCloud macro parameters. |
| Convex Hull | Full | Convex Hull executor op | Builds the smallest convex polygon enclosing each geometry, appended as a ConvexHull column. |
| Create Points | Full | Table Extract with geom_point |
Builds point geometry from longitude/latitude columns, in SQL. |
| Create Samples | Full | Table Extract, one per output | Splits input into Estimation, Validation, and Holdout at the configured percentages. |
| Cross Tab | Full | Pivot / cross-tab transform | Pivots rows to columns across every aggregation method and the derived totals. |
| Data Cleansing | Full | Data cleanse transform | Cleans whitespace, nulls, punctuation, and casing. |
| Date | Full | Workflow variable (date) | Emits ISO date values for steps and conditions. |
| DateTime | Full | Date/time transform | Converts date and time parsing and formatting. |
| Detour | Full | Conditional branch routing | Converts route selection to DAG conditions. |
| Detour End | Full | Conditional branch merge | Rejoins conditionally selected branches. |
| Directory | Full | Document directory listing | Lists files from a Document path. |
| Distance | Full | Table Extract with ST_DISTANCE_SPHERE |
Geodesic point-to-point distance and bearing, in SQL. |
| Download | Full | HTTP download executor | Downloads external data or artifacts. |
| Drop Down | Full | Controlled workflow variable | Converts app drop-down choices to controlled input. |
| Dynamic Input | Full | Dynamic Document input | Resolves file patterns and variable-driven inputs at runtime. |
| Dynamic Rename | Full | Dynamic rename transform | Renames fields from metadata or rules. |
| Dynamic Replace | Full | Dynamic replace transform | Applies replacement rules from a second stream. |
| Dynamic Select | Full | Dynamic field selection transform | Selects fields by type, name, or rule. |
| Error | Full | Step condition (error) | Converts configured error behavior to step conditions. |
| File Browse | Full | Controlled Document file variable | Lets users choose a file for a converted app run. |
| Filter | Full | Filter transform | Splits records by expression into true and false paths. |
| Find Nearest | Full | Spatial Find Nearest | Distance-ranked nearest-neighbor join in the database. |
| Fit | Full | ML: Train Model | Collapses into the fused ML Train step. |
| Folder Browse | Full | Controlled Document folder variable | Lets users choose a folder for a converted app run. |
| Formula | Full | Formula transform | Converts field expressions to PlaidCloud expressions or SQL. |
| Fuzzy Match | Full | Fuzzy matching executor | Matches on keys, thresholds, and candidate review. |
| Generalize | Full | Spatial Generalize | Simplifies geometry to a tolerance, preserving topology. |
| HTML | Full | Report text / HTML artifact | Preserves content as report or artifact output. |
| Image Processing | Full | Image transform executor | Applies grayscale, scale, crop, and rotation in canvas order. |
| Image Profile | Full | Image profile executor | Reports dimensions, mode, format, channels, and luminance statistics. |
| Image to Text | Full | OCR executor | Extracts text from images through managed OCR. |
| Input Data | Full | Document-backed file input | Loads .yxdb, .dbf, Excel, and fixed-width .flat source files into workflow data. |
| Insights | Full | Dashboard / artifact output | Creates a cloud-native review artifact. |
| Interactive Chart | Full | Chart artifact | Creates a chart artifact from converted data. |
| Join | Full | Join transform | Produces joined, left-only, and right-only streams on a single- or multi-field key or by position. |
| Join Multiple | Full | Multi-join transform | Joins multiple input streams. |
| Line To Polygon | Full | Line To Polygon executor op | Closes each line into a polygon ring, appended as a Polygon column. |
| List Box | Full | Controlled workflow variable | Converts app list selections to controlled input. |
| Macro calls | Full | Macro invocation | Imports known macro sources and maps macro calls to PlaidCloud macro steps. |
| Macro Input / Macro Output | Full | Macro input / output port | Map directly to PlaidCloud macro ports. |
| Make Grid | Full | Spatial Make Grid | Tiles an extent into square cells, one row per cell. |
| Map | Full | Map artifact | Creates a PlaidCloud map artifact. |
| Map Input | Full | Spatial File Import | Reads MapInfo, ESRI, KML, and GeoJSON files with their sidecars. |
| Message | Full | Step condition (message) | Emits workflow warning, message, or error from a condition. |
| Modeling | Full | ML: Train Model | Fuses into the ML Train step with the pipeline’s model choice. |
| Multi-Field Formula | Full | Multi-field formula transform | Applies a formula across selected fields. |
| Multi-Row Formula | Full | Window / row-aware formula transform | Converts row-relative logic to window behavior, partitioned by Group By. |
| Numeric Up Down | Full | Controlled numeric variable | Converts app numeric input to a typed variable. |
| Output Data | Full | Document / table output | Writes output to Document or PlaidCloud tables. |
| Overlay | Full | Spatial Process | Intersect, union, or cut two geometry columns. |
| PDF Input | Full | PDF extraction executor | Extracts text or tables from PDFs. |
| Point To Line | Full | Point To Line executor op | Threads each group’s points into one SequenceLine per group, ordered by the sequence field. |
| Poly-Build | Full | Spatial Poly-Build | Builds a polygon or convex hull per group of points. |
| Poly-Split | Full | Spatial Poly-Split | One row per vertex, component polygon, or hole. |
| Portfolio Composer (Text / Table / Image / Layout / Render) | Full | Report artifacts | Convert report content, layout, and rendering to PlaidCloud report output. |
| Predict | Full | ML: Score | Scores data with the trained model table and appends a prediction column. |
| Radio Button | Full | Controlled workflow variable | Converts app radio choices to controlled input. |
| Random % Sample | Full | Table Extract (random) | Returns the exact count or percentage of records requested. |
| Record ID | Full | Row identifier transform | Adds a deterministic record identifier in the configured type and start value, restarting per group. |
| Redistribute | Full | Redistribute executor op | Reallocates a measure from one set of geographies onto another by area of overlap, appended as a Redistributed column. |
| RegEx | Full | Regular expression transform | Parses, matches, or replaces text. |
| Regression | Full | ML: Train Model | Fuses the Assisted Modeling chain into one ML Train step. |
| Report Map | Full | Map report artifact | Produces a cloud-native map/report artifact. |
| Sample | Full | Sample transform | Keeps records by count, percentage, or grouping. |
| Select | Full | Select and schema projection step | Selects, renames, reorders, and retypes fields. |
| Smooth | Full | Spatial Smooth | Smooths each geometry over a number of passes. |
| Sort | Full | Sort transform | Sorts records by configured fields and directions. |
| Spatial Info | Full | Spatial Info | Area, length, centroid, and bounding rectangle as geodesic measures. |
| Spatial Match | Full | Spatial Match / Spatial Match (Intersect / Unmatched) | Converts every relationship — Within, Contains, Intersects, Touches, Crosses, Overlaps, and Centroid-In — matched in the database or the workflow engine. |
| Spatial Process | Full | Spatial Process | Intersect, union, or cut geometry columns. |
| Summarize | Full | Aggregate transform | Groups and aggregates — sum, count, average, min, max, median, mode, standard deviation, variance, and count distinct. |
| Tab | Full | App tab grouping | Preserved as converted app structure. |
| Test | Full | Step condition | Converts test assertions to step conditions. |
| Text Box | Full | Controlled text variable | Converts app text input to a typed variable. |
| Text Input | Full | Inline table input | Creates inline data for the workflow. |
| Text Pre-processing | Full | NLP preprocessing executor | Normalizes and preprocesses text. |
| Text To Columns | Full | Split columns transform | Splits text into fields or rows. |
| Tile | Full | Tile / grouping transform | Assigns tile groups by configured rule. |
| Tool Container | Full | Canvas container / execution group | Preserved as workflow organization. |
| Topic Modeling | Full | Topic modeling executor | Runs topic modeling through managed NLP. |
| Transformation | Full | Transform step | Converts transformation logic to PlaidCloud expressions or SQL. |
| Transpose | Full | Unpivot transform | Converts columns to rows into a Name/Value pair. |
| Tree | Full | Controlled workflow variable | Converts app tree selection to controlled input. |
| Union | Full | Union transform | Combines streams by name, position, or configured rules. |
| Unique | Full | Unique / duplicate split transform | Separates first-unique records from duplicates. |
| Visual Layout | Full | Canvas layout metadata | Preserved as design context. |
| Word Cloud | Full | Text visualization artifact | Creates a visualization artifact from text analysis. |
| XML Parse | Full | XML parse transform | Extracts XML fields into workflow data. |
| Trade Area | Partial | Spatial Trade Area | Concentric buffers sized in real-world units, in fixed-radius mode. Drive-time trade areas — minutes on a road network — are not yet reproduced. |
| Image Template | Partial | Image Template executor op | Manual mode crops the image to each region you draw on the template, emitting one row per region. Automatic mode, which detects the regions on the page itself, is not yet reproduced — draw the regions in Manual mode instead. |
| Image Recognition | Not supported | ML: Score | Trains a deep-learning image classifier from pretrained weights; the parity image carries no deep-learning framework or starting weights, so it can neither train nor score. Train and score the classifier outside PlaidCloud, then bring predictions in through ML: Score, which reads the same model table. |
| Geocoder | Not supported | Geocoding service connection | Resolves addresses to coordinates against a reference dataset PlaidCloud does not carry; the conversion names the tool rather than guessing. Connect a geocoding service and geocode through it. |
Interface widgets (drop-downs, list boxes, check boxes, text/numeric/date inputs, file and folder pickers), canvas objects (comments, links, containers), and macro ports all convert as native controlled variables or canvas objects.
Spatial Tool Coverage
Section titled “Spatial Tool Coverage”Every tool in the Alteryx Spatial palette has a PlaidCloud route, and every one of those routes is a step you can also build by hand — conversion is a convenience, not the only way in. See Geospatial steps for the full reference and Geospatial Analytics for how they fit together.
| Alteryx Spatial Tool | PlaidCloud Route | Runs In |
|---|---|---|
| Buffer | Spatial Buffer | Workflow engine |
| Centroid | Centroid executor op | Workflow engine |
| Convex Hull | Convex Hull executor op | Workflow engine |
| Create Points | Table Extract expression | Database |
| Distance | Table Extract expression | Database |
| Find Nearest | Spatial Find Nearest | Database |
| Generalize | Spatial Generalize | Workflow engine |
| Heat Map | Heat Map (macro) | Workflow engine |
| Line To Polygon | Line To Polygon executor op | Workflow engine |
| Make Grid | Spatial Make Grid | Workflow engine |
| Point To Line | Point To Line executor op | Workflow engine |
| Poly-Build | Spatial Poly-Build | Workflow engine |
| Poly-Split | Spatial Poly-Split | Workflow engine |
| Redistribute | Redistribute executor op | Workflow engine |
| Smooth | Spatial Smooth | Workflow engine |
| Spatial Info | Spatial Info | Workflow engine |
| Spatial Match | Spatial Match | Database |
| Spatial Match — intersection object, Unmatched | Spatial Match (Intersect / Unmatched) | Workflow engine |
| Spatial Process | Spatial Process | Workflow engine |
| Trade Area (fixed radius) | Spatial Trade Area | Workflow engine |
| Pie Wedge Trade Area | Pie Wedge Trade Area (macro) | Workflow engine |
| Spatial file input | Spatial File Import | Workflow engine |
| Summarize — SpatialObjCombine, SpatialObjConvexHull | Spatial Combine | Workflow engine |
| Report Map | Report Map | Workflow engine |
Known Spatial Gaps
Section titled “Known Spatial Gaps”- Drive-time trade areas. Trade Area converts in fixed-radius mode. There is no factor that turns minutes on a road network into a distance, so drive-time sizing does not convert.
- The
.geoGeoFile format. Alteryx’s proprietary binary GeoFile cannot be read. Conversion fails closed rather than emitting an import that crashes at run time; other spatial formats are unaffected. - Some Spatial Info measures. Object type, part count, point count, Peano key, and end-point coordinates have no verified parity definition and are skipped. Conversion names the dropped measures in a note.
- Non-floating-point Create Points modes. Coordinates stored as integers scaled by 1,000,000, or already projected, are flagged for upstream rescaling rather than converted into mis-scaled points.
- Make Grid and Poly-Split configuration forms. Both step types run correctly, but neither has a configuration form in the workflow designer yet; converted steps carry their settings, and hand-authoring goes through the API or MCP.
Calgary Tool Coverage
Section titled “Calgary Tool Coverage”An Alteryx Calgary database (.cydb) is a proprietary indexed store PlaidCloud cannot open. Conversion treats each one as standing for one ordinary PlaidCloud table, named calgary_<database name>, so the tools built around it convert as ordinary table operations rather than refusing outright. See Calgary Databases for how the stand-in table works, and Calgary Join and Cross Count Append for the index-matching tools.
| Alteryx Calgary Tool | PlaidCloud Route | Converts |
|---|---|---|
| Calgary Loader | Table Extract writing calgary_<database> |
Yes, once the database is named and it stores at least one data field. |
| Calgary Input | Dynamic Document input reading calgary_<database>, with the saved query as filter |
Yes, including a query built from an Or or wrapped in a Not. Refuses on contains/starts-with/spatial queries and on Skip Records/Max Records limits. |
| Calgary Input (Count Only) / Calgary Cross Count | Aggregate transform over calgary_<database> |
Yes, including a bucket built from an Or or wrapped in a Not. Refuses on a cross over more than one custom field, and on a count-only read naming no column to count over. |
| Calgary Join | Dynamic Document input matching each record of its input against calgary_<database> |
When the incoming field is a plain value matched against a value index — including Count Only mode, which counts the database records each input record matched, a record matching nothing counting zero. Refuses when the field is spatial (rebuild as Spatial Match) or its type is unresolved, and on range-index or unmatched-output-wired Joins, on a Join naming no match field, and on a Join with nothing wired to its input. |
| Calgary Cross Count Append | Dynamic Document input matching each record, then a counted join over calgary_<database> |
When the incoming field is a plain value matched against a value index: it counts, per input record, the database records matched, and a record that matched nothing counts zero. Refuses on a spatial or unresolved index (rebuild as Spatial Match), a custom-value cross-count grid, a range index, and a match naming no field. |
Known Calgary Gaps
Section titled “Known Calgary Gaps”- A Calgary Cross Count Append over a custom-value cross-count grid doesn’t convert. A single plain cross-count field converts — it counts, per input record, the matching database records — but a grid of named custom values would append one count column per value, and Alteryx documents neither how many columns that is nor what it names them.
- A Calgary Join or Cross Count Append matched against a spatial index refuses, naming the stand-in table and pointing at Spatial Match — the workflow file records the index’s name but not whether it holds ordinary values or spatial geometry.
- Contains, starts-with, and spatial-lookup queries don’t convert. Only indexed value and range comparisons do.
- A read limited by Skip Records or Max Records doesn’t convert — the stand-in table carries no record order.
- A Calgary Loader that stores no data field doesn’t convert, since the table it wrote would have no columns.
- A database read before it has been loaded stops, naming the table to build. This is the common case for the demographic and reference
.cydbfiles Alteryx ships, which nothing in your workflow wrote.
Connecting to External Systems
Section titled “Connecting to External Systems”Alteryx’s connector endpoints — Salesforce, HTTP, Google Analytics, Cassandra, email, Hadoop, and Spark, in both directions — do not convert, because PlaidCloud reaches these systems through a connection rather than through a tool on the canvas. Each one refuses by name and states where the work belongs:
| Alteryx Tool | Where It Goes in PlaidCloud |
|---|---|
| Salesforce Input / Output | A Salesforce connection |
| HTTP Input | A REST Request step against a REST connection |
| Google Analytics Input | Import: Singer Source with the Google Analytics tap |
| Cassandra Input | Import: Singer Source with the Cassandra tap |
| Email Input | Import: Singer Source with the GMail tap |
| Hadoop Input / Output | Import: SQL / Export: SQL through a Hive, Impala or Presto connection |
| Spark Input / Output | Import: SQL / Export: SQL through a Databricks connection |
Three of these have no write path at all. PlaidCloud reads Google Analytics and Cassandra but never writes to them, so a Google Analytics Output or Cassandra Output tool becomes an Export: SQL to a supported destination instead. Email is not a data destination either: Notify: Email sends a notification to people, so an Email Output tool becomes an Export step plus a separate notification.
Validating a Converted Workflow
Section titled “Validating a Converted Workflow”For production workflows, validate converted outputs against trusted Alteryx outputs — PlaidCloud validation focuses on schema, row count, and row values, and ignores row order unless the workflow depends on it. Specialized operations (spatial, fuzzy matching, OCR, NLP, reporting) run through managed job executors that keep the workflow cloud-native; machine-learning pipelines convert to the native ML: Train Model and ML: Score steps. See Migrate Alteryx Workflows for the end-to-end import and validation guide.